ENTJ Personality (“The Commander”)

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs

ENTJs are natural-born leaders. People with this personality type embody the gifts of charisma and confidence, and project authority in a way that draws crowds together behind a common goal. But unlike their Feeling (F) counterpart, ENTJs are characterized by an often ruthless level of rationality, using their drive, determination and sharp minds to achieve whatever end they’ve set for themselves. Perhaps it is best that they make up only three percent of the population, lest they overwhelm the more timid and sensitive personality types that make up much of the rest of the world – but we have ENTJs to thank for many of the businesses and institutions we take for granted every day.

Happiness Lies in the Joy of Achievement

If there’s anything ENTJs love, it’s a good challenge, big or small, and they firmly believe that given enough time and resources, they can achieve any goal. This quality makes people with the ENTJ personality type brilliant entrepreneurs, and their ability to think strategically and hold a long-term focus while executing each step of their plans with determination and precision makes them powerful business leaders. This determination is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, as ENTJs push their goals through with sheer willpower where others might give up and move on, and their Extraverted (E) nature means they are likely to push everyone else right along with them, achieving spectacular results in the process.

At the negotiating table, be it in a corporate environment or buying a car, ENTJs are dominant, relentless, and unforgiving. This isn’t because they are coldhearted or vicious per se – it’s more that ENTJ personalities genuinely enjoy the challenge, the battle of wits, the repartee that comes from this environment, and if the other side can’t keep up, that’s no reason for ENTJs to fold on their own core tenet of ultimate victory.

The underlying thought running through the ENTJ mind might be something like "I don’t care if you call me an insensitive b*****d, as long as I remain an efficient b*****d".

If there’s anyone ENTJs respect, it’s someone who is able to stand up to them intellectually, who is able to act with a precision and quality equal to their own. ENTJ personalities have a particular skill in recognizing the talents of others, and this helps in both their team-building efforts (since no one, no matter how brilliant, can do everything alone), and to keep ENTJs from displaying too much arrogance and condescension. However, they also have a particular skill in calling out others’ failures with a chilling degree of insensitivity, and this is where ENTJs really start to run into trouble.

Cultivating the Science of Human Relationships

Emotional expression isn’t the strong suit of any Analyst type, but because of their Extraverted (E) nature, ENTJs’ distance from their emotions is especially public, and felt directly by a much broader swath of people. Especially in a professional environment, ENTJs will simply crush the sensitivities of those they view as inefficient, incompetent or lazy. To people with the ENTJ personality type, emotional displays are displays of weakness, and it’s easy to make enemies with this approach – ENTJs will do well to remember that they absolutely depend on having a functioning team, not just to achieve their goals, but for their validation and feedback as well, something ENTJs are, curiously, very sensitive to.

ENTJs are true powerhouses, and they cultivate an image of being larger than life – and often enough they are. They need to remember though, that their stature comes not just from their own actions, but from the actions of the team that props them up, and that it’s important to recognize the contributions, talents and needs, especially from an emotional perspective, of their support network. Even if they have to adopt a "fake it ‘til you make it" mentality, if ENTJs are able to combine an emotionally healthy focus alongside their many strengths, they will be rewarded with deep, satisfying relationships and all the challenging victories they can handle.

Yes, I would say this is an accurate description of my personality type. I have always enjoyed leading people to a greater cause or awareness. I have a personality style that if I believe in something and I have my heart and soul into that cause, then I can lead people to move mountains. I endure challenges and if I fail, then I take that as a learning experience, I always have the mentality that I will gain knowledge from whatever I do. Most importantly, I'm a hard worker myself and I do have a knack for learning what my crew is good at in a short amount of time. I am a people person and socially I love to talk to others. Young and old it does not matter I have a thirst for knowledge and once I have mastered my achievements I enjoy sharing my experiences. Someday, I may become a professor in OLS, because it is my passion to teach others.

PS

4 years ago

This is a good post especially about reading other people. The advantage of the INTJ and perhaps its rarity is the ability to pretend to be an ENTJ and over time learn how to do this on a consistent basis (see INTJ page for more). I don't have the desire to spend all my time as an E. One situation that occurs is that in offices is the I's will look to "goof off" with alone time while the E's are laboring away. Over the long term the ENTJ does "better" while I's work becomes secondary to relationships.

Hexavorto

4 years ago

A very good personality type, if the person has the intellect for it. A forceful leader who is clueless is dangerous. We have a couple of the latter type where I work. They are best avoided. This personality, combined with a 190 plus IQ would be very good thing. Well thought out, with a clear understanding of the underlying factors leadership. But you start with a less common personality trait, with a fewer than 1 percent intellect. We have one of these combined factors leaders in our organization. He sits back in the meetings, allowing all the other "leaders" to speak, cuts them off at the knees on factual errors, then rules the day. Fun to watch. He doesn't make a great number of friends, but does have followers.

Geo

4 years ago

Nice. No wonder I love being an author that will inspire the world. <3

Alanna

4 years ago

I was wondering. For the famous examples, would Eric Cartman from South Park be a good example?